Fact of the day

Information is the most powerful weapon.

Monday

Fact N°
2162

Many of the top Google search terms for 2010 were people searching for the Facebook login page.

The Google Zeitgeist top rising terms of 2010 were "iPad" (at No. 1) and "justin bieber" (at No. 2), but immediately thereafter were "fb," "facebook en espanol," and "www.facebook.com." Also in the top 10 were "facebook login" and "face" (the first result for which is also Facebook). In a bizarre incident early last year, an article entitled "Facebook Wants to Be Your One True Login" was posted by a website called ReadWriteWeb and briefly appeared first in the Google results for "facebook login" -- whereupon thousands of Googlers arrived at the article's comments section and tried confusedly to log into what they assumed was a new Facebook layout.

Tuesday

Fact N°
2159

Scars are attractive to women looking for a fling.

Studies at the Universities of Liverpool and Stirling expected to find that facial scarring was generally perceived as unattractive in Western cultures; instead, they found that women find it an admirable trait in short-term relationships -- and even an indicator of masculinity and bravery. A lack of scarring did not, however, deter women in search of a long-term, nurturing relationship. Men found women with and without scars to be equally desirable in both scenarios.

Wednesday

Fact N°
2163

The man responsible for blood banks was not permitted to donate to them.

Dr. Charles Drew was the first black man to be appointed as an examiner by the American Board of Surgery, and the first to receive a medical science degree from Columbia University; he worked with enterprising techniques to preserve stored blood when that field was wholly new. Drew was director of the world's first blood drive, World War II's "Blood for Britain", and was thereby in charge of the world's first blood bank, located in New York City. However, black people were not permitted to donate blood to blood banks until years later. Drew resigned his position over the issue in 1942.

Thursday

Fact N°
2164

Manhole covers are round to assure they don't fall through the opening.

Microsoft was one of the first major American corporations to begin asking off-the-wall brainteasers as interview questions, mostly to gauge an interviewee's creativity. "Why are manhole covers round?" was one such Microsoft interview question, and though interviewees could answer any number of ways ("Because manholes are round!"), the most practical answer is that a square manhole cover, placed at an angle, could fall through a circular hole (unlike a circular cover).

Friday

Fact N°
2165

Tennis grunting actually interferes with opponents' performance.

A study from the University of Hawaii at Manoa found that tennis players' response times were significantly slower when they heard their opponent grunt, and those subjects even recorded the wrong direction for the shot more often than when the sound was absent. The study showed respondents videos of a tennis player serving to the left or to the right in order to measure respondents' reactions; some clips played a brief sound during the shot, while others did not.

Saturday

Fact N°
2166

Bottled water may be significantly worse for you than tap water.

Bottled water has "surprisingly very high" levels of microorganisms, and reused water bottles can degrade and release chemicals that are potentially harmful (even carcinogenic) to humans, according to microbiologist Sonish Azam. An unrelated 2008 investigation found "untested industrial chemicals" in bottled water.

Sunday

Fact N°
2167

Smaller tragedies are more meaningful to most people than larger ones.

In a study entitled "The Scope-Severity Paradox," researchers at the Kellogg School of Management and Harvard Law School found people react mostly to harm they can easily identify with rather than large-scale tragedies. This is true even when the harm involved is exactly the same: One experiment asked subjects to rate the severity of two identical stories about financial fraud, except that one case involved two or three victims while another involved dozens. Subjects responding to the smaller-scope case found the offense greater and suggested harsher punishments than their counterparts.